Club Soko goes back to its roots with Newgrounds demo
Flashback?
- Club Soko, the recently released music-themed puzzler, is also releasing a Newgrounds demo
- A simple business decision, or honouring its Flash roots?
- We put that exact question to Brad Smith at Miracle Tea games
If you checked in on the site last weekend, you may have noticed we gave out one of our fairly uncommon gold ratings for a little music-themed puzzler called Club Soko. Jupiter, it seems, had a great time with this tile-shifting journey through the depths of the titular nightclub. And I myself had a go at it while I was on holiday and found it to be quite the hidden gem.
As you probably already know, I’m also quite fond of comparing mobile to the old school Flash gaming phenomenon, pointing out the shared DNA and how some of the most entertaining mobile games follow a similar rule of fast, intuitive and fun design. Not surprisingly, Club Soko gave me exactly those vibes.
And it appears that developer Miracle Tea Studios agrees, because alongside launching for iOS and Android, Club Soko also made its way to Newgrounds! One of the major hubs for the Flash scene over the years, Newgrounds users can have a crack at the Club Soko demo for themselves before committing to a purchase on mobile or PC.
I got the chance to ask Miracle Tea dev Brad Smith about the inspiration from Flash games, and whether that was true of Club Soko, and here’s what they had to say…
I tend to do the black outlines on interactive elements for visual hierarchy, so how I like to draw and animate was definitely informed by that community. There’s probably some sense of humour and style from hanging out on Newgrounds at a formative age that’s naturally bled its way into Club Soko’s design too.
You’re absolutely right about there being a shared DNA. One of my favourite things about the game is the Twin Hobo Rocket cameo. It’s not only very fitting for what the game is trying to say, but Ed’s punk attitude to making games was a big influence on me when I was starting out. My younger self would be stoked on that now.
A few people at PG Connects said Club Soko reminds them of Flash games, and that always makes me smile because I have a soft spot for the creativity in that era.
And, as for whether bringing Club Soko to Newgrounds was more for the fans or a business decision, and why do it in the first place?
To help the game find its people, I guess. There’s a lot of secrets that nod to certain Flash games which I think the Newgrounds community might understand and appreciate. We’re getting a bit older now, so perhaps subconsciously we’re more nostalgic for that era when we started making games. Things have changed a lot in the industry since then; maybe it’s something to do with trying to get that feeling back.
In regards to it being a business decision or for the fans, probably a bit of both. A lot of people still play web games, which means more people can find out about the game and hopefully pick it up, which helps us as indies.
Club Soko presents a pretty interesting picture of where we are with mobile gaming, and indeed gaming as a whole. Yes, you can’t really stuff something like Battlefield 6, or even Arknights: Endfield, into a browser, but there are plenty of people who grew up with the world of Flash and web gaming. And that shared heritage, and the taste that people have developed, still applies to games being published and released even in 2026.
And if you want to get the whole lowdown on that saga, why not check out my piece on how Adobe Flash helped to define mobile gaming? Who knows, you might even learn something in the process!
